“It’s an invitation to His Highness Abel’s birthday party. I want you to come with Philip. It’s three weeks from now.”

Rex’s words made my head spin.

His Highness Abel was the crown prince of our kingdom. Of course, refusing wouldn’t be tolerable. By the way, His Highness also liked Rex for some reason.

As Rex had said earlier, I didn’t have the confidence to jump into a large crowd of people with my sloppy amnesiac acting. It seemed that Rex planned it on the spot.

After all, if this had been planned from the start, all of my lies would have been revealed on the very first day I met Philip after suffering that accident.

“I wonder if I should stop faking my amnesia…”

Towards me, who inadvertently muttered so, he sighed deeply.

“Well~ it’s been one of your bad habits to escape at the first sign of trouble, even when you haven’t achieved anything. You can always pretend to regain your memories, but to pretend to have amnesia for the rest of your life? Isn’t that basically a waste? Think of your parents.”

“Eeh.”

“Far from breaking off your engagement, you still don’t even know why Philip is lying. Is it really okay to end it here Viola? Yyou can do it, I guarantee it. So, let’s do our best together a little bit more, got it?”

Why was I being preached and encouraged by that man?

However, what he was saying wasn’t wrong, unfortunately. The only reason I was reluctant to accept those words was because they came from him…

…When I was about to give up, I recalled my parents—whom I had deceived.

“…I’m sorry, I may have made a mistake.”

“Well, that’s fine, I’m going to teach you acting.”

“Eh?”

“Yes, I’ll take up the role of your aristocrat acquaintance from now on.”

 …Suddenly, Rex’s spartan acting instruction began. From the beginning until the end, I didn’t know what that guy was aiming for.

However, thanks to his precise guidance, my amnesiac performance had improved dramatically.

***

It had been a week since then.

I was currently walking down a street of the royal capital with Philip.

It seemed that Rex told Philip that if we were to attend His Highness’ birthday party together, then he should buy me a dress.

Despite that, Rex told me he had absolutely never told Philip such—and here I thought it was part of his plan to help me break off my engagement. It felt kind of strange. After all, we had been engaged for 18 years and he had never given me a proper gift before.

Rex told me to relax—on whose side was he, really?

After his outrageous lies, Philip was a little bit easier to converse with. The other day’s acting instruction had also lessened my anxiety immensely. In the end, I agreed to go with him. At worst, I’d return his money in case of an emergency.

Philip took me to the most popular shop in the royal capital. Usually, someone’d have to make a reservation more than half a year in advance. Luckily, he was the son of the duke. There, we bought a wonderful dress that was of the latest fashion.

“Thank you very much for not only the dress, but also the shoes and accessories. I shall treasure them.”

“Yes.”

Then, on the way back, as I walked towards the carriage, I saw a cute café with a lot of people coming and going. The sign in front of the store mentioned that it was for couples only.

I was about to walk past that cafe, which had no connection with me whatsoever—

—when Philip suddenly halted.

“This is your favorite café. Let’s stop by.”

He spouted a lie again. Of course, I had never stepped a foot in that café. In the end, I couldn’t retort to his lie. I went into the café as he told me to.

I recalled that Jamie said that the pancakes there were excellent. Whatever the concept, a café was a café, still. I decided to eat delicious food and go home afterwards without nitpicking over details.

The large café was almost full—its popularity was shining. At the destination I was guided to, was a sofa for two. It was very small. Maybe it was a consideration of the café to allow couples to get close to each other.

The distance to other customers was close, probably because they were trying to accommodate as many people as possible.

We asked for the most popular pancake set. Philip seemed to enjoy eating sweets more than expected.

Pancakes and tea were served in the blink of an eye—I was thrilled by the cuteness of the dish’s presentation. It had lots of fruits on it.

“Speaking of which, Barbara seems to have broken up with her lover.”

“My, what happened? They were so close!”

When I was silently carrying the pancakes into my mouth, I suddenly heard the voices of the couple from a nearby table. I thought I shouldn’t, but I ended up eavesdropping anyway.

Then—

“—the man is an outrageous liar.”

I could’ve sworn Philip’s shoulders had bounced up.

When he noticed my gaze, he cleared his throat and hurriedly sipped his tea.

“Well, it’s not like you can trust a liar.”

“It looks like it wasn’t just once or twice.”

“No wonder it didn’t last.”

Somehow, I had just listened to a bitter story.

When I glanced at Philip, his hands, which were holding a knife and a fork, had completely stopped.

“I hate liars.”

“Me, too. Lying to your beloved is just the worst. It’s unbelievable.”

“As I thought, being alone is the best.”

“That liar is a human waste.”

The couples surrounding us had sweeter atmospheres than the creamy pancakes in front of me. However, we were enshrouded in dead silence—

—after all, we were examples of said ‘human waste.’

There was a heavy atmosphere unlike any other enveloping us.

“Viola.”

“Y, yes?”

Eventually, my name was called. When I raised my face, my gaze met his golden eyes, which were trembling with anxiety.

“…Do you hate men who lie?”

…Pardon?

If there was someone who’d love a man who told lies after lies, I’d like to meet her, too!

“Well, I… wouldn’t like him much…”

“…I see.”

Knowing whom he was actually referring to, it wasn’t like I could say much. In fact, I was hesitating to reply.

Afterwards, we managed to finish eating the pancakes and left the store quickly.

***

“Older brother, what is it?”

“…I’m certain I saw Philip and Viola there.”

The girl laughed.

“You’re definitely mistaken! As if they’d visit such a place.”

“Yes, you’re right.”

“I also heard that Viola had an accident. I wonder if she’s alright.”

“…”

“Fufu, but I’m glad I came with brother today! Everyone was green with envy when they spotted me! How lucky I am, to have such a good-looking brother!”

Contrary to the girl, whom was smiling happily, the young man she referred to as her older brother kept staring towards the sky in a lackluster manner.

---

***T/N: Unfortunately, what Philip forgot to learn is game. Dude’s as honest and as clueless as a newborn fawn…

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